Getting organized for the new school year
We’ve got two weeks until D’s first day of school, and C will start preschool the following week. HUGE changes for our family, and that means I’ve got to up my organization game.
Here are a few goals on my mind right now:
- Picking up what we need (before the last minute).
I don’t do well at Walmart in the best of situations, but I *really* don’t do well in a crowded Walmart. Or mall. Or any store, really. So I’ve been trying to keep on top of what everyone needs for school before we get too close to D-day. I navigated a surprisingly calm trip to Payless and got them each two pairs of shoes (for $60 total! *heart-eyed emogi*). We still need jeans.
D picked out a new Ninja Turtles backpack and a thermos, so we just need a water bottle for his desk. C got a new backpack for her birthday, so she’s all set. I’m a little sad over the fact that we don’t need to buy school supplies — D’s school requires a $30 cheque, and they provide everything. It’s good, though, because I’d probably have spent $30 on gel pens alone.
Turning the hall closet into a mudroom.This is done, and it’s still working out sooooo well. Like, I can’t even, you guys.
You complete me, hooks. Sometimes we get too many bags hanging on the hooks (ahem, my tote bags) but it’s an easy fix. The kids are great about putting their shoes and hats in their bins (sometimes the odd dirty sock, too), and it’s been a solid solution for our house. Full tutorial here, if you want to make your own.
- Being better about meal-planning and grocery shopping.
We’ve dropped the ball this summer, I’ll admit. Darling Husband does the grocery shopping and I do most of the cooking (albeit badly), and we’ve been guilty of quickie meals (ahem, I made fish sticks and Goldfish crackers for SUPPER the other night, I can’t even …) and even quicker grocery runs to “grab a few things” rather than planning a week’s worth of meals.I wrote out a full week’s worth of meals the other day, made up a list (as much as I love making lists, I dislike writing grocery lists for a reason I can’t understand), and Darling Husband dutifully went out and bought everything we needed. Now we’ll see if I can stick to it.
- Finishing (well, starting) a Family Command Centre.
If I’m going to stick to a meal plan, I need to see it! Written down! Keeping me accountable! So one of my upcoming DIY projects is going to be a Family Command Centre on our kitchen wall. It’s going to have a spot to write out the week’s menus, a calendar, a grocery list, and a place for all of those notices and newsletters that are bound to come home from school.
- Sewing back-to-school wardrobes.
My sewing skills are really picking up, and I’ve branched out from just making dresses and leggings for C to making shirts for D! He loves it, and I love that he’s going to have his own sense of style (well, my style?) in the classroom. I’m also learning that sewing collared shirts take waaaay more time than sewing a simple dress.
(Sewing friends, I’ve been making the Anytime at All Tee and the Maxwell Shirt, both from Shwin Designs)
xo
Faux flower lamp makeover
When the craft store had a “Grab Bag” sale — $2 for a huge bagful of random craft supplies — I may have let out a little shriek. Two of the bags were overflowing with fake flowers, and I’d been meaning to pick some up for this project. It was crafting kismet!
I’d had this project in the back of my mind for a while now. The idea was to take a bunch of (really ugly) fake flowers and attach them to a lampshade and then to spray the whole thing one solid colour. I had no idea if it would work or not, but I had to try. There aren’t too many good uses for fake flowers in modern decor, so I still haven’t figured out why they’re so expensive most of the time.
I went home with two of the $2 grab bags, bursting with fake flowers, and a can of pale pink spray paint. We had a couple of old lamps I was ready to upgrade, so I grabbed the smallest one and removed the shade.
Continue reading in my weekly DIY column, My Handmade Home …
Easy bento lunches (without buying those crazy-expensive boxes)
A dinosaur-shaped sandwich surrounded by star-shaped pieces of cheese. A container of yogurt dressed up with a few sprinkles. A toothpick skewering little chunks of apples, strawberries and grapes.
There’s something about tiny portions of all different foods that makes lunch SO VERY EXCITING for a little kid.
Bento lunches started in Japan as “visually-appealing meals packed into boxes,” and they’re all the rage in the school cafeteria. You can buy fancy space-age metal or plastic bento boxes with containers that fit neatly inside like puzzle pieces.
Of course, you don’t need to shell out $30 for a real bento box. Personally, I think that’s just asking for OCD frustration — I’d hulk out when my kids inevitably lost one of the irreplaceable little containers and the box was no longer a complete set.
http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1
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Ridiculous but amazing: sew a cosy for your cleaning wipes
Yes, this is quite possibly the most hilarious, unnecessary thing I have ever created, but it’s also one of my favourites.
Step 2: Hem the bottom.
Step 3: Fold down the top (towards the inside) and pin where it reaches the top of the container. Hem the top.
Step 4: Wrap the cosy around the container (right side touching the label) and pin along the side — nice and tight, so your cosy fits like a snug pair of skinnies. Sew up the side, and you’re done.
Ridiculous. Amazing. Kind of practical?
This project is all of those things. You’re welcome.
Now what else needs a slipcover? Hmm, maybe the coffee maker? It’s pretty fug.
How to have a very merry (chill) birthday
In my experience, the most planned-out special days often end up being the ones where things go wrong and you’re left feeling disappointed.
That’s totally why my birthday yesterday — the big 3-2 — was really great. No big plans. No expectations.
How to have your very own casual but awesome birthday (even though your husband is working for most of the day and the actual celebration was days earlier):
Step 1: Wake up to adorable decorations stuck up with masking tape, painstakingly done by your husband at 2:30 a.m. after his shift the night before.
https://instagram.com/p/6Ui_aCNIZx
Step 2: Put your kids in camp for the morning. Bye, Felicia!
https://instagram.com/p/4yxZ9CNIWm
Step 3: Go on a shopping date with your husband to buy your own birthday gift. Bonus points if it’s a totally amazing sewing machine to replace the plastic $120 Singer Simple you’ve been using since 2003.
https://instagram.com/p/6VRtG5NIZL
Step 4: Eat your favourite guilty pleasure of McDonalds breakfast and a giant fountain Diet Coke. Mmmmm. Don’t tell me what’s in sausage patties, because they’re my everything.
Step 5: Spend a lovely afternoon hanging out with your awesome friend and her kids, getting ice cream cones and then drinking Diet Cokes at McDonald’s while your kids run wild in the playplace for hours.
Step 6: Take your kids to Zumba with you and park them in the back of the room. Dance your heart out with your friends. The only downside will be regretting all of the sh-t you ate earlier in the day, and feeling like french fry salt is seeping out of your pores.
https://instagram.com/p/6A4P4BtIfz
Step 7: Put your kids to bed, put on a comfy-but-ugly nightie, hide from the humidity in your nice cool basement, watch the Backstreet Boys documentary, and talk on the phone with your mom.
Step 8: Go to bed at a reasonable hour because you’re a totally responsible adult. Re-read some of one of your favourite books, turn out the lights, and go to sleep thinking about how crazy-lucky you really are.
xo
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